The Nightmare
by ChocolateChipCookie29
Summary: One shot. Matilda has a nightmare. When she wakes up during the night, both she and her new mom, Miss Honey have a talk. Hopefully, the story is better than the summary. Lol.


_She just had to get Miss Honey's doll. Matilda couldn't stand Agatha Trunchbull, and wanted nothing more than to give her a taste of her own medicine. Show her that she shouldn't be allowed to treat people like dirt. Matilda stood by the tree and watched in horror as Trunchbull kicked a black cat, and it went flying into the air. Luckily, the poor thing landed on his feet and would be okay. Matilda would have laughed at Trunchbull's barking like a dog to get the cat to leave her alone if she wasn't such a bundle of nerves right now._

_Miss Honey had invited her to her cottage after school for tea and cookies and told her all about her horrible Aunt Trunchbull, and that she had to leave all of her treasures behind. Her favorite being a doll that her mother gave her, named Liccy Doll. This gave Matilda an idea. After tea with Miss Honey, she would wait for the Trunchbull to leave, and sneak into the house and get the doll and surprise Miss Honey with it the next day at school. The Trunchbull would be none the wiser. As soon as Trunchbull drove away, Matilda took off for the house. Hopefully, the door wasn't locked. It wasn't. Matilda walked inside and looked around. She saw the portrait of Trunchbull hanging above the fireplace, and tried not to lose her lunch. It was one ugly picture. She looked over and found a box that contained different pieces of chocolate. Matilda took two and put them in her jacket pocket. Might as well get a snack. She proceeded to go upstairs and look for Miss Honey's old bedroom. The house was very large, and very nice, but it could use a good paint job, and maybe some dusting. _

_Matilda opened one of the doors upstairs and saw that it was the bathroom. She then opened the door across from it, and saw that it was a child's room. It was covered in cobwebs. There was a large portrait of a handsome man laying on the floor. It was probably Miss Honey's late father. Matilda was told that he had killed himself, but she didn't believe it. She had a feeling Miss Honey didn't, either. On the bed lay a doll. Matilda went to pick it up, when she heard a booming voice downstairs shout, "WORMWOOD!"_

_Trunchbull was back, and yelling at her dad on the phone about the car he sold her. Matilda didn't care about that. Right now, she was trying to figure out a way to get out of there. Trunchbull was a maniac, so what would she do if she found her in the house? Keep her there against her will? Scream at her to get out? What? The thought horrified Matilda. Before she could think of a way to get out, Trunchbull hung up the phone and went into the living room. Oh no. Matilda hadn't put the lid to the chocolate box back on. Would Trunchbull notice the two chocolates missing? Matilda decided not to waste any time. She took off down the hall, and saw a set of stairs that led down to the kitchen. She could sneak out the back door before Trunchbull caught her. _

_Unfortunately, the stairs were covered in pots, pans, and cleaning supplies. Matilda had to be as quiet as possible. _

_"Who's in my house," Trunchbull yelled. _

_Oh, no. Matilda tried to hurry but didn't want to make any noise. Her arm, unfortunately, hit a mop and the mop fell down, causing all of the pots and pans to fall. It was very loud. Matilda quickly went to the back door but it was boarded up._

_"Tallyho!" Trunchbull jumped over the banister on the stairs onto the hallway floor, causing the whole house to shake. _

_Matilda thought about hiding under the kitchen table, but figured Trunchbull would surely find her there. She saw a door that led to the basement, and quickly went down it. There were two ways out. Matilda saw a lock on doors that led outside, and then saw a window that she could escape through. She went to open the window, but saw that there were bars on it!_

_"Some rats are gonna die today!"_

_Matilda turned, and in horror, saw Trunchbull coming towards her, a mad grin on her face, swinging a shotput, and about to strike._

Matilda woke up in a cold sweat, and let out a scream. Her adoptive mother, Miss Honey ran in and hugged the child to her.

"Oh, Matilda. Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

Matilda took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Bad dream. That's all."

"What was it about?"

Matilda didn't want to worry Miss Honey. She knew it was just a nightmare and would be alright in a few minutes after a drink of water, but Miss Honey was completely different.

"You can tell me, Matilda. After all, I am your mother, you know."

Matilda smiled at this. That made her feel better. Miss Honey was a wonderful mother, and a wonderful person.

"Well, I don't want to upset you."

"You won't upset me. Trust me, I've had my share of nightmares over the years."

Matilda decided to tell her.

"Okay. Well- remember when me and you snuck into the house when Trunchbull was living here and almost got caught?"

Miss Honey nodded her head yes.

"Well, the nightmare was about what if I had went in there alone. Like, what if you weren't walking me home that day and I snuck in by myself to get your treasures? Instead of hiding under the kitchen table, I ran straight for the basement. The window had bars on them, and I couldn't escape. Trunchbull caught me, and I woke up."

Miss Honey wasn't upset. She certainly wasn't surprised. Aunt Trunchbull just had the effect on people. Probably everybody that ever encountered her had nightmares. Matilda was one of the bravest young girls Miss Honey ever knew, and she knew Trunchbull must be bad to scare someone so brave.

"What made you have that dream, Matilda?"

"I don't really know. I feel bad, though. You had to live with her. She was horrible to you. She killed Magnus. Did you hear about the time she made Bruce Bogtrotter eat an entire confection of chocolate cake?"

Miss Honey nodded yes, smiling. She found out that it was Matilda who started to cheer for him to finish the cake. Matilda sure was a miracle.

"Don't feel bad, sweetie. If it makes you feel any better, my nightmares were far worse."

"No, that doesn't make me feel better, Mom."

"Well- you know what I mean."

Matilda smiled. "Yeah, I do. I'm okay, though. Really. I would like to know more, though. What did she do to you?"

Miss Honey sighed and crawled under the covers, pulling Matilda close to her, and kissed her cheek.

"You just had a nightmare, Matilda. I hardly think this would be the bedtime story to cheer you up."

"Mom, I'm fine. This isn't the first nightmare I've ever had. Everyone does. You're my mom. Please tell me. I can take it."

Miss Honey had no problem telling Matilda about her past, for it was the past, and she now had a bright future ahead. Matilda didn't ask for much, so she decided to tell her a few things.

"Well... not everything tonight, okay? Just a little bit."

"That's okay."

"Well... right after they took my father away, Aunt Trunchbull gave me one of the most evil smiles in the world. I knew right then, what she had done. I never trusted her. I couldn't go to the police because they already concluded it was suicide, and Trunchbull would punish me if I tried to tell anybody. I knew one day I would grow up. Once I did, I would move out. I didn't care where. I would rather live in a garbage dumpster than with that woman."

There was a pause as Matilda took this all in. She was wide awake, and wanted to know all she could. Miss Honey continued.

"I was only allowed one meal a day. I had my choice of having either breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I was allowed to go to school, but again, I couldn't tell anybody. Nobody would believe me, anyway. The meal I chose was usually lunch because I went to school, and I would eat lunch in the caffeteria with everybody else. Once I bought that cottage, and became a teacher, I could only afford to eat at school, so again, I was stuck on only one meal a day. As you know, I eat a lot more now than I used to. Every morning, I had to get up at five and clean the house and cook breakfast. I was just like Cinderella living with her wicked stepmother."

"The wicked stepmother was probably nicer than Trunchbull," Matilda said with a smile. This caused Miss Honey to smile as well.

"She never beat me or anything, but she scared me, and threatened me quite a bit. One day she locked me in the closet for two hours because I forgot to pick up the groceries on my way home from school. When I was seven, she broke my hand."

Matilda remembered Trunchbull threatening Miss Honey on her last day at Crunchem Hall. That she broke her hand before once and could do it again.

"Why did she break your hand?"

Miss Honey sighed. "Well, I was putting the dishes away after supper one night, and found something. A box of poison. That's when I knew for one hundred percent sure that my father hadn't killed himself. I confronted Aunt Trunchbull about it, and she grabbed my hand and broke it. I had to take care of it myself after it was broken. I couldn't go to the hospital or anything. I had to lie to everybody and say I accidentally tripped over the neighbor's cat. That's all there is to it."

Matilda leaned forward and hugged her mother.

"I'm really sorry about all of that, Mom."

Miss Honey smiled. "It's okay. Would you like me to stay with you the rest of the night?"

"I would love that."

The two easily fell asleep after that, nightmare free.

THE END


End file.
